[There was a video here]

At a campaign event in Bluffton, South Carolina, on Wednesday morning, Donald Trump, in the midst of a rant about how much he doesn’t like Lindsey Graham, seemed to imply that, if elected president, he would reveal the true perpetrators of the 9/11 terror attacks.

Here is what he said:

We went after Iraq, they did not knock down the World Trade Center. It wasn’t the Iraqis that knocked down the World Trade Center, we went after Iraq, we decimated the country, Iran’s taking over, okay.

But it wasn’t the Iraqis, you will find out who really knocked down the World Trade Center. Because they have papers in there that are very secret, you may find it’s the Saudis, okay? But you will find out.

He’d made the same argument earlier in the day, on “Fox and Friends.”

Now, while it is true that Iraq did not knock down the World Trade Center, it is no secret that 15 of the 19 hijackers who participated in the 9/11 attacks were citizens of Saudi Arabia.

It is also true, however, that 28 pages of the Joint Inquiry into Intelligence Community Activities Before and After the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001’s official report—which is not to be confused with the 9/11 Commission Report—remain classified. Those 28 pages suggest “specific sources of foreign support for some of the September 11 hijackers while they were in the United States,” according to the relevant chapter’s introduction.

At a press conference calling for the pages’ declassifcation last year, former Senator Bob Graham, who was the co-chair of the Joint Inquiry, said:

The Saudis know what they did. They are not persons who are unaware of the consequences of their government’s actions. Second, the Saudis know that weknow what they did! Somebody in the Federal government has read these 28 pages, someone in the Federal government has read all the other documents that have been covered up so far. And the Saudis know that.

[...]

They have continued, maybe accelerated their support for one of the most extreme forms of Islam, Wahhabism, throughout the world, particularly in the Middle East. And second, they have supported their religious fervor, with financial and other forms of support, of the institutions which were going to carry out those extreme forms of Islam. Those institutions have included mosques, madrassas, and military. Al-Qaeda was a creature of Saudi Arabia; the regional groups such as al-Shabaab have been largely creatures of Saudi Arabia; and now, ISIS is the latest creature!

Yes, I hope and I trust that the United States will crush ISIS, but if we think that is the definition of victory, we are being very naive! ISIS is a consequence, not a cause—it is a consequence of the spread of extremism, largely by Saudi Arabia, and if it is crushed, there will be another institution established, financed, supported, to carry on the cause.

Anyway! It is gratifying to know that President Trump would be so committed to transparency.

H/T Real Clear Politics. Contact the author of this post: brendan.oconnor@gawker.com.